Manchester Mosque gutted by fire as anti-Muslim crimes soar

The fire is being treated as a hate crime by Greater Manchester policeGetty Images

A mosque in Manchester has been badly damaged by a fire that worshippers said was the third there in three years.

Police have begun an investigation into the “suspicious” blaze at the Nasfat Islamic Centre, in the northeast of the city, at 11.40pm on Sunday.

Monsurat Adebanjo-Aremu, the mosque secretary, said that in the past year somebody had thrown two pigs’ heads inside the building and urinated outside. Shamusideen Oladimeji, a spokesman for the mosque, added that it was the third fire at the building since 2014 and that the reason for them was “just hatred”.

The fire, which police believe was started when someone forced open a window and placed an “unknown accelerant inside”, is being treated as a hate crime by Greater Manchester…